Method and article of manufacture for supporting rails



Jan. 6, 1959 TOULMIN, JR 2,867,384

METHOD AND ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE F OR SUPPORTING RAILS Filed Oct. 1,1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVN7OR HARRY A. TOULM/NJR.

BY I

TTORNEYS Jan. 6, 1959 H. A. TOULMIN, JR

METHOD AND ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE FOR SUPPORTING RAILS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Oct 1,

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' HARRY A. TOULM/N a2.

Jan. 6, 1959 2,867,384

METHOD AND ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE FOR SUPPORTING RAILS H. A. TOULMlN, JR

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 1, 1954 m M w W HARkV A. TOULM/N JR.

BY /W 1959 H. A. TOULMIN, JR 2,

METHOD AND ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE FOR SUPPORTING RAILS Filed Oct. 1,1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 N l. HARRY A. TOULM/N JR.

J l M ATTORNEYS Unite brats Application October 1, 1954, Serial No.459,785

6 (llaims. (Cl. 238283) The present invention relates to a rail tieplate assembly, more particularly to a non-metallic resilient structurewhich supports and secures a rail to a cross tie.

In conventional practice tracks comprise rails which are supported uponcross ties. The usual manner in which this is done comprises placing aflat metallic member, referred to as a tie plate, upon a wooden crosstie and securing it in place. The flanged portion of the steel rails isthen placed on the rail seat of the tie plate and secured in place bymeans of spikes engaging the flange of the rail. It has been found to bedesirable to firmly anchor the tie plate to the cross tie in order toprevent any destructive abrasive action because of theplate movement.

The bottom of the tie plate is either smooth or slightly corrugated. Useof teeth or other sharp projections on the bottom of the tie plate inorder to secure the tie plate to the cross tie has been found to beundesirable since the projections cut the wood fibers of the cross tieand hasten the decay of the wood. Consequently, variations in the baseof the tie from a flat base plate are designed to seat the tie platesecurely while avoiding any injury to' the wood fibers of the cross tie.

The tie plate itself is rectangular in shape and has a width which islimited to the width of the cross tie. A pair of parallel shoulders areusually placed on the top of the plate to define a rail seat. Theparallel shoulder's restrain lateral motion of the rail ends since theseshoulders are immediately adjacent the rail ends. These shoulders aresuch as to be low enough to permit spike heads to engage the top of theflange yet sufficiently high to afford a firm side bearing for theflange.

It has been previously proposed to use composition pads under the steeltie plates in order to reduce maintenance costs. These tie pads werealso intended to reduce plate cutting and other mechanical wear of ties,to cushion against impact and to deaden sound.

The present invention discloses a structure and method for supportingthe rail upon a cross tie. This structure essentially comprises anon-metallic tie plate assembly. The tie plate assembly comprises a nonmetallic tie plate which is suitably mounted to one face of nonmetallicpad member. A tie saddle or tie engageable member is bonded to theopposing face of the pad memher. The tie saddle may be constructed so asto be closely received upon the wooden cross tie. The rail itself issecured to the cross tie by the use of conventional spikes which passthrough the tie plate assembly.

The tie plate and tie saddle may be constructed of laminated fabricswhich have been treated with suitable resins. The resilient matinterposed between the tie plate and tie saddle may be a fibrous glassmat impregnated with resin.

Several modifications of the tie plate assembly are disclosed. Inaddition, an embodiment of the invention is" disclosed showing how arail may be secured to a cross tie other than wood, employing the tieplate 2,867,384 Patented Jan. 6, 1959 to provide an improved rail tieassembly.

It is another object of this invention to provide a strong and resilientsupporting connection between a rail and a cross tie.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an inexpensive andsimple non-metallic structure for supporting a rail upon a cross tie. g

It is an additional object of this invention to provide rail supportingmembers made of resinous laminates.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a railsupporting structure wherein a resilient pad is interposed between thesupporting plates.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a method forsupporting rails upon cross ties using nonmetallic materials.

It is still an additional object of this invention to provide a methodfor supporting rails upon ties involving the use of resinous laminatesfor supporting plates and a fibrous glass resilient member interposedbetween said plates.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become readilyapparent upon reference to the following description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tie plate assembly of this inventionwith portions thereof removed;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the tie plate assembly when used tosecure a rail to a concrete cross tie with portions of the tie plateassembly removed;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view ofa modication of the tie plate assemblydisclosed in thisinvention with portions thereof removed;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing still another modification of thetie plate assembly with portions thereof removed; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along the lines 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Returning now to the drawings, more particularly to Fig. 1 wherein likereference characters indicate the same parts throughout the variousviews, 10 indicates generally a tie plate assembly constructed inaccordance with this invention. The tie plate assembly 10 is positionedupon a wooden cross tie 11 and a conventional steel rail 12 is supportedupon the tie plate assembly 10.

The tie plate assembly 10 comprises a tie plate 13 which has a pair ofparallel shoulders 14 which define a rail seat 15. The steel rail 12isof the conventional I-beam type and has a flange 16 which is closelyreceived within the rail seat 15.

The tie plate 13 has a bottom surface 1'7 upon which there is formed agrid pattern of thrust ribs 18. The thrust ribs 18 are preferablyintegral with the tie plate 13.

Positioned directly beneath the tie plate 13 is a resilient pad 19 whichhas an upper face 20 and a lower face 21. The pad 19 is non-metallic andmaybe formed of a fibrous glass mat which is impregnated with resin. Theupper face 29 of the mat 19 is fused or bonded in a suitable manner tothe bottom face 17 of the tie plate 13.

Positioned directly beneath the mat 19 is a tie saddle 22 which restsupon the wooden cross tie 11. There are depending flanges 25 upon eitherend of the tie saddle 22. These flanges 25 are immediately adjacent theedges of the wooden cross tie 11 in order to closely receive the Woodencross tie 11 therebetween. These depending flanges 25 prevent anycreeping movement of the tie saddle transversely upon the cross tie 11.

Upon the upper face 23 of the tie saddle 22 a plurality of projectingribs 26 are formed into a grid pattern. This grid pattern is similar tothe grid pattern formed upon the tie plate 13. The upper surface 23 ofthe tie saddle 22 is bonded or fused in a suitable manner to the mat 19.By imbedding the ribbed patterns on both the tie plate and the tiesaddle into the mat, it can be seen that the ribs serve to eliminate anymovement of either the tie plate or the tie saddle relative to the mat.Elimination of this movement is desirable as the destructive effect ofabrasive action is thereby removed.

Suitable openings, as indicated in Fig. 2, may be provided'in both thetie plate assembly and the flange of the steel rail to receive a numberof railroad spikes 27 in order to secure the rail to the wooden crosstie. If desired, the holes in the tie plate assembly may be sopositioned that the heads of the spikes engage the edges of the flangeof the steel rail.

Both the tie plate and the tie saddle may be composed of the samematerial. This material consists of a laminated fabric, such as cotton,which is impregnated with a suitable silicon resin. By impregnating thelaminated fabric under high pressures and high temperatures, a materialis obtained from which a'satisfactory tie plate may be manufactured. Ifdesired, a cloth made of glass fibers may also be used in'making the tieplate and the tie saddle. It is preferable to use the glass cloth as thestrength of glass is known to be considerably greater than the fibers ofordinary cloth.

Also, if desired, both the tie plate and the tie saddle may be made bydensely packed glass fibers which are molded under high pressures whileimpregnated with suitable silicon resins. This process also will resultin a tie plate and a tie saddle which will be very satisfactory for usein the tie plate assembly of this invention.

Proceeding to Fig. 3 there is illustrated therein the structure employedwhen securing a rail to a concrete tie. This same structure may beemployed when securing the rail to a steel tie. It is pointed out thatboth steel and concrete ties have very little natural resiliency whencompared with wooden ties. Consequently, it is extremely important thatthere be some form of resilient material interposed between the rail andthe non-wooden tie in order to absorb the shocks due to impact upon therail. This invention is especially suited for this purpose. Concrete andsteel ties are used most frequently in bridge construction or atintersections of railroad tracks and highways.

In Fig. 3 there is illustrated a concrete cross tie 28 which has atransverse slot 29 in the upper surface thereof. The slot 29 is ofsufficient dimension to accommodate the tie plate assembly 10 asillustrated in Fig. 1. The rail is then secured to the concrete crosstie by means of suitable bolts 30, which are passed through the spikeholes in the flange of the rail and through the tie plate assembly.

In Fig. 4, which is a sectional view of the structure illustrated inFig. 3, it can be seen that the flange of the steel rail issubstantially flush with the upper surface of the concrete cross tie 28.It is to be understood that this relationship is not at all limiting butmay be desirable in certain applications.

In Fig. 5 there is illustrated a modification of the tie plate assemblydisclosed in Fig. 1. This modification is illustrated as being used tosecure a steel rail to a wooden cross tie.

In the modification as illustrated in Fig. 5, the steel rail 12 issupported upon the wooden cross tie ll by means of a tie plate assembly31. The tie plate assembly 31 is similar to the tie plate assembly 10 inthat it comprises both a tie plate 32 and a tie saddle 33.

The tie plate 32 has an upper surface 34 and a bottom surface 35. On theupper surface 34 there is a pair of parallel shoulders 36 which define arail seat 37. Thus far, the construction of this tie plate 32 is similarto the tie plate 13 as illustrated in Fig. 1.

However, on the bottom surface 35 of the tie plate 32 there is arrangeda grid pattern of slightly raised projections 38, which projectionsintersect each other to form a plurality of recesses 39, the inner onesof which have four sides, and the outer ones of which have at least oneside open. These recesses 39 are shown to be substantially square insection. However, it is to be understood that any other desired shapemay be employed The tie saddle 33 has a top surface 41 and a bottomsurface 42. There are dependent flanges 43 on the bottom ends of thebottom surface 42 in order to receive closely the wooden cross tie 11therebetween. On the top surface 41 of the tie saddle there ispositioned a grid pattern of raised projections 44 which is similar tothe grid pattern on the bottom face of .the tie plate to form aplurality of recesses 45, with the outer rows of recesses having atleast one side open. As in the case of the tie plate projections, theprojections 44 are integral with the surface of the tie saddle.

The grid patterns on both the tie plate and the tie saddle are sopositioned so that when the tie plate and the tie saddle are positionedtogether to form the tie plate assembly, the recesses on the tie platewill be aligned with the recesses 45 on the tie saddle. When the tieplate and tie saddle are assembled, a resilient mat 46 is partiallyreceived within each one of a pair of aligned recesses. These mats 46may be made of fibrous glass blocks which are impregnated with asuitable resin.

An examination of Fig. 6 will serve to clarify the relationship of eachof the pads 46 with the cooperating surface of the tie plate and the tiesaddle.

When the tie plate assembly illustrated in Fig. 5 is formed, the pads 46are suitably bonded or fused within the recesses of the tie plate andthe tie saddle. The rail 12 is then secured to the cross tie by means ofrailroad spikes 27 passing through spike openings in both the flange andthe steel rail of the tie assembly in a manner similar to that disclosedand described in connection with the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Proceeding now to Fig. 7 there is illustrated another modification ofthe tie plate assembly of this invention. This modification is somewhatsimilar to the modification described in Fig. 5 except that none of therecesses in either the tie plate or the tie saddle have sides open tothe edge of either the tie plate or tie saddle respectively. I

The modification in Fig. 7 essentially comprises a tie plate 47, a tiesaddle 48, anda plurality of resilient pads 49 interposed therebetween.The upper surface of the tie plate has a parallel shoulder constructionsimilar to that described in connection with Fig. 5. The tie platefurthermore has a bottom surface 59 which has therein a grid pattern ofrecesses 51. The recesses 51 are shown to be square in section but maybe of any shape desired. It is noted that none of the recesses open tothe edgeof the tie plate.

The tie saddle 48 is similarly constructed to the tie saddle describedin connection with Fig. 5 and has a top surface 52 which has therein agrid pattern of recesses 53. The recesses 53 are of the same size andshape as the recesses 51 in the tie plate 47. Consequently, when the tieplate 47 and tie saddle 48 are positioned for assembly, the recesses 51and 53 will be in alignment with each other. A plurality of resilientpads 49, as pointed out above, are so positioned between the .tie' plateand the tie saddle that a portion of each pad is received within each ofa cooperating pair of recesses 51 and 53. This relationship is clearlyillustrated in Fig. 8. The pads 3 are then suitably bonded or fusedwithin their respective recesses so as to form an in-- tegral tie plateassembly unit. The pads 49 may be of any suitable resilient materialbut, as described in connection with Fig. 5, it is desired that they bemade of fibrous glass blocks which are impregnated with a resin. In thismanner pads of high pressure strength are obtained which have adesirable degree of resiliency.

As described above the steel rail 12 is secured to the cross tie 11 bymeans of railroad spikes 27 which pass through spike holes in the flangeof the steel rail and in the tie plate assembly itself.

Thus it can be seen that the present invention discloses a novel articleof manufacture and method of supporting rails upon cross ties byemploying non-metallic materials. The tie plate assembly of thisinvention will result in smoother travel along the rails because thistie plate assembly will readily absorb all impacts upon the rails. Inaddition, this tie plate assembly is both inexpensive and simple tomanufacture. Consequently, the use of this resilient tie plate assemblywould serve to reduce maintenance cost of tracks. By employing thisinvention in the various applications as described above, it can be seenthat the high grade steels previously necessary to make these tie platescan be released for other purposes. 7

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modificationin order to adapt it to different usages and conditions, and,accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within thisinvention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1

1. In a tie plate assembly for interposition between a rail andcross-tie, a non-metallic tie plate engaging said rail, a non-metallictie saddle positionable upon said cross-tie, and a non-metalliccompressible pad susceptible to permanent deformation between saidtie-plate and tie saddle, said pad being bonded to the opposed faces ofsaid tie-plate and tie-saddle to form a non-metallic tie assemblytherewith.

2. In a tie plate assembly for interposition between a rail and across-tie, a non-metallic tie saddle positionable upon said cross-tie,and a compressible pad of glass fibers having a resinous binder andsusceptible to permarail and a cross-tie, a non-metallic tie plateengaging said rail, a non-metallic tie saddle positionable upon saidcross tie, and a non-metallic pad between said tie-plate and tie saddle,said tie plate, tie saddle and pad being compressible and formed ofglass fibers having a resinous binder and being susceptible to permanentdeformation.

4. In a tie plate assembly for interposition between a rail and across-tie, a non-metallic tie plate engaging said rail, a non-metallictie saddle positionable upon said cross tie, a non-metallic compressiblepad susceptible to permanent deformation between said pad plate and tiesaddle, projecting ribs forming a grid pattern on one face of said tiesaddle and embedded in said mat to eliminate relative movement betweenthe tie saddle and the mat whereby the destructive efiiect of abrasiveaction is removed, said pad being bonded to the opposed faces of saidtie-plate and tie saddle to form a non-metallic tie assembly therewith.

5. In a tie plate assembly for interposition between a rail and across-tie as claimed in claim 4 with said projecting ribs being on bothsaid tie saddle and tie plate.

6. In a tie' plate assembly a multiple plate structure including a tieplate, a tie saddle and a pad therebetween with each being compressibleand susceptible to permanent deformation and formed of glass fibershaving a resin binder with the fibers on engaging faces of said plate,saddle, and pad, interlocking to prevent relative movement between saidelements whereby the destructive efiect of abrasive action is removed.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 388,240Ashcroft Aug. 21, 1888 1,190,154 Haas July 4, 1916 1,780,396 KirkbrideNov. 4, 1930 2,124,235 Cunradi July 19, 1938 2,291,611 Dooling Aug. 4,1942 2,337,497 Reddick Dec. 21, 1943 2,397,023 Lloyd Mar. 19, 19462,421,602 Dooling June 3, 1947 2,553,010 Saul May 15, 1951 2,600,843Bush June 17, 1952 2,609,991 Jones Sept. 9, 1952 2,656,116 ProtzellerOct. 20, 1953

